27.03.2024. President Serdar Berdimuhamedov received the President of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) David Haggerty and the President of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) Yuri Polsky.
Expressing sincere gratitude to the Head of Turkmenistan for his time allotted for the meeting, the guests confirmed the interest of the ITF and ATF in developing fruitful cooperation with Turkmenistan, where special attention is paid to stimulating and supporting sports and establishing the principles of a healthy and active lifestyle in society.
Stressing that our country had achieved great success in that direction, Mr David Haggerty presented President Serdar Berdimuhamedov with the Certificate of the International Tennis Federation.
Warmly welcoming the guests, the head of state thanked for the presentation of the ITF Certificate, noting that he regarded that as a sign of international recognition of the far-sighted strategy being implemented in Turkmenistan and aimed at forming a comprehensive system for the development and popularisation of sports, including tennis.
As the head of state said, we considered that visit of the leaders of the ITF and ATF as an important event in the history of domestic tennis. During their stay in Ashgabat, guests will have a good opportunity to meet with representatives of the Turkmenistan Tennis Federation, to discuss prospects for expanding cooperation and to become acquainted with the specialised infrastructure of our country. In this regard, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov expressed his conviction that the results of the visit would give a new impetus to the traditional partnership and would serve to further popularise this sport in Turkmenistan.
In recent years, the development of domestic tennis has been given new dynamics. The number of young people interested in this sport is increasing. Since 1993, the Turkmenistan Tennis Federation (TTF) has been a member of the International Tennis Federation and since 2001 – the Asian Tennis Federation. There is cooperation in organising training seminars for Turkmen coaches, and international children’s and youth competitions are held. This helps identify talented athletes and provides them with the opportunity to participate in professional tournaments.
Here, one of the vivid examples is the Central Asian Regional Tennis Championships among young athletes in the age category up to 12 years, held last year in Ashgabat. This tournament was successfully held in the tennis complex of the Olympic village in the capital.
As President Serdar Berdimuhamedov stressed, Turkmenistan aimed to continue productive cooperation on the world sports arena, in particular within the framework of the International and Asian Tennis Federations, and was ready to support the initiatives and proposals of the ITF and ATF to promote tennis in our country and around the world. Speaking about this, the head of state proposed exploring the possibilities of using the sports infrastructure of Turkmenistan to hold international tennis tournaments, training sessions and master classes.
At the end of the meeting, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and his guests expressed confidence in the further successful development of fruitful cooperation in the field of sports, which would help strengthen relations of friendship and mutual understanding between the peoples and countries of the planet.
State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH)
